I also presented our group’s book presentation Wednesday which also went very well. The book we discussed was This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism by Ashton Applewhite and its main argument was that Ageism needs to end and that everyday we need to challenge false ageist beliefs in order to have future age equality. She emphasizes becoming an “old person in training” as a way to prepare to age healthily and go against all the ageism that makes it difficult to age and find self-value in a society that does not value aging currently. She writes that “Becoming an Old Person in training means ditching preconceptions, looking at and listening carefully to olders around us, and re-envisioning our place among them.” I liked the book and its emphasis on dismantling ageism but I do realize it was a very limited scope on how people age using examples mostly from her life and viewpoint. But while it points to one experience of aging it is still one of many and works to give examples that deviate from harmful norms. The book’s main goal is to promote aging diversity and teach people there is no one way to age and that we all need to have age pride. Healthy aging is not only a physical process but also a mental one.
This book helped me address ways I have wrongfully reproduced ageism in the past unintentionally from anything such as casual jokes and internal thoughts of fears of aging. These are things produced through an ageist society and that I and many people need to actively oppose. Awareness is the first step to dismantling and I’m just glad to now know more than I did before reading this book.